The brave parents of boxer Eamonn Magee were in Lisburn tonight helping raise funds for the TinyLife charity their son supported, less than a fortnight after they buried him.

Eamonn Jnr died on May 30, after being stabbed in the street.

Weeks earlier he had registered and sought sponsorship for running the Lisburn Half Marathon and this week his friends collected his runner number and timing chip as they prepared to participate on his behalf.

Eamonn Jnr's parents, Eamonn Snr and Mary donned TinyLife t-shirts and Mary took part in the walking marathon.

And they congratulated their son's friends Anto Upton, James Higgins and Ryan Deighan, who smashed the half marathon in just over 1hour 52 minutes on behalf of the young boxer.

Anto, who fights for Ricky Hatton, and personal trainers James and Ryan had planned to complete the 13 miles in relay.

But minutes before the start they changed their minds and decided to do the lot together.

Anto said: "About 6pm we just looked at each other and we knew we were all thinking the same thing. We had to do the lot. We'd planned to run about 4.5 miles each but we each did the full 13 miles and now we're wrecked but happy we did it."

Anto and James make it to the finish line

He added: "We did it for Eamon. About seven miles in I could feel my legs getting heavy but I just thought to myself, come on, you're here, you're fit and your breathing, get it sorted. So I ran on with Eammon spurring me on the whole way.

"When I'm not boxing I don't train, I eat what I want and have the odd drink. So I only had a week to prepare of this marathon. I just put my head down and got on with it. Me and James came in about 1 hour 52 minutes, he was second behind me and Ryan came over the finish line a couple of minutes later. It was a good effort and Eamonn would have been proud of us."

Ryan, who ran the distance in 2hours 13 minutes, said: "We just went for it and we did ourselves proud. I think Eamonn would be proud of us and we've glad to have done it for him."

Ryan Deighan reaching the finish line

James said: "Came in 1 hour 52 minutes. It was a really tough challenge mentally, especially since I hadn't trained for it, but I just kept in mind why I was doing it and my legs managed to carry me. Thanks to everyone who wished us well, sponsored us or just gave us any kind of support."

The friends agreed to run the Lisburn Half Marathon nearly three weeks after Eamonn Jnr was stabbed to death.

They picked up Eamonn's runner number and timing chip last week and urged pals to donate to the charity he had championed since the birth of his nephew.

Eamonn, 22, had been training for the half marathon before he died in an attack on May 30. He suffered multiple stab wounds after stepping to the street to check a pizza delivery while visiting his girlfriend. He was buried 11 days ago after a service at St Joseph's Church, Hannahstown.

Turkish national Orhan Koca, a barman, has been charged with Eamonn's murder and has been refused bail.

(Image: Pacemaker)

Koca was interviewed by the police on 17 occasions following his arrest and repeatedly denied murdering the young boxer. Koca was remanded in custody to reappear before Lisburn Magistrates Court on July 6 via videolink.